Barton, Poyferre, Montrose & Troplong
Friday afternoon saw the release of Troplong Mondot which now has Aymeric de Gironde, responsible for Cos d'Estournel's recent successes, at the helm. He's already changed the wine for the better, harvesting earlier and significantly reducing the amount of new oak to allow the terroir to shine through making a much fresher, more balanced and refined wine than in previous vintages. Antonio Galloni described it as 'A major stylistic shift in the direction of freshness and energy has resulted in a positively stunning Troplong Mondot endowed with tremendous depth'.
Tasting at Leoville-Barton with Lilian and her son Damien was one of the highlights in what was a rather roller-coaster of an en primeur week; we think they produced a stunning 2017. It looks like the critics agree - Neal Martin puts it in his top 12 picks of the vintage, the only St-Julien to feature, and gives it the same score as the 2016. People love to complain about the price of en primeur, but with a significant price drop from the previous vintage and a similar rating to much more expensive super-seconds, it's hard not argue that this is a compelling buy.
Leoville Poyferre followed hot on its neighbour's heels. Smoother, silkier and fleshier than Barton, the 2017 has all the charm of 2012, elegance and finesse of 2015 and power of 2014, according to owner Didier Cuvelier. After tasting twice, I couldn't disagree. A healthy price drop from the 2016 too, this is another super-second safely in the good value category.
Over at Montrose, the new owners the Bouygues family have installed a new wine-making team headed up by Herve Berland, formally of Mouton, and super new cellars which have had the desired effect for the Wine Advocate's Lisa Perrotti-Brown as the '2017 is one of the greatest Montrose's I have tasted!' /ZA
Offered subject to remaining unsold; available 2020
